Community Board 2 is hosting a public workshop on the “Brooklyn Strand”, the working name for 21 acres of underutilized and under-programmed parks and plazas that begins at the Brooklyn Bridge and extends through the center of Downtown Brooklyn to Brooklyn Borough Hall (or vice versa). The Brooklyn Strand includes Cadman Plaza, Walt Whitman Park, the Korean Veterans Plaza, Columbus Park, and various vacant municipal lots and lawns.

As part of the Brooklyn Tech Triangle strategic plan, which was unveiled in June 2013, these spaces have the potential to serve as a connecting point between two borough-wide destinations (Brooklyn Bridge Park and Downtown Brooklyn) and many neighborhoods (Brooklyn Heights, Dumbo, Fort Greene, Downtown Brooklyn, etc.).

The Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, in conjunction with the Mayor’s office, Brooklyn Bridge Park, NYC Parks, and City Planning have engaged the urban architecture firm WXY Studio to solicit feedback from the public to understand the current uses, wishes, and opportunities for the open spaces along the Brooklyn Strand. From their work with the stakeholders, WXY will create an action plan for the open space, with the goal of submitting a conceptual plan to the Public Design Commission in 2015.

New York City is a leading tech innovation hub (after Silicon Valley), and the Brooklyn Tech Triangle is taking charge to include a broad public, private, and academic backing to provide an environment, infrastructure, transportation, and workforce development to ensure that the area can accommodate the needs of the new economy. There are five key challenges to which the Brooklyn Tech Triangle Strategic Plan counters with five plan components. The five key challenges are:

Space: We are running out of appropriate commercial space for tech.

Workforce: The Tech Triangle could be—but isn’t yet—a new model integrating talent from local communities and universities with high-growth industries.

Transportation: It needs to be easier to get around the Tech Triangle.

Dynamic Places: Some parts of the Tech Triangle need an upgraded energy and vibe.

Tech Infrastructure: The “tech” in Tech Triangle should be apparent to all.

The 94 page plan include challenges and proposals that address them. We’re only touching on a small slice, so you may want to read the full strategic plan. More renderings after the jump…(more…)

Pratt Area Community Council and Two Trees Management Co. will be holding an information session on affordable rental opportunities at the Dock Street Dumbo building that is being built on Dock and Front Streets in Dumbo/Fulton Ferry Landing Brooklyn. The info session will take place at The Actors Fund Arts Center, 160 Schermerhorn Street in Downtown Brooklyn on Wednesday, May 8, 2013 at 6:15pm.

Rents for the affordable units at Dock Street will be between approximately $500-$850 per month for studios, 1, and 2 bedrooms, depending on income, family size, and apartment size. Rental applications will not be available at the presentation (they will be available sometime in 2014). Back in 2008 plan called for 400 rental units, 80 of which will be affordable.

177 Concord, a new condo conversion adjacent to Dumbo in downtown Brooklyn was formerly an old party favor warehouse/factory. The building has 23 one and two bedroom condo units and was designed by Karl Fischer. While Park Avenue Developers & Management, the developer, had plans for selling them as condos, they decided to make them rentals, based on the strong rental market (according to them). It’s a short walk to Vinegar Hill and Dumbo, close to the Toren building.

According to Streeteasy, rental prices start at $2,500 and top $4,800 per month via Leah Rubin of Olympic Realty New York. Sales pricing is still on the website, and ranged from $390,000 for #1E, a studio ($746 psf) to $1,095,000 for #4E, a 908sf one bedroom ($1,206 psf) on the 4th floor that includes a terrace.

Wednesday, December 21, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and State Senator Daniel Squadron joined Brooklyn elected officials and community and business leaders to rally in support of the New York University and Polytechnic Institute proposal for an applied sciences campus at 370 Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn. Creating a hub for science and technology that connects the budding tech community in Dumbo and the surrounding neighborhoods with NYU-Poly’s proposed Center for Urban Science and Progress, as well as City Tech and Poly’s existing campuses would be a major step for Brooklyn and Dumbo’s NY Digital District and Digital Dumbo.

NYC is aiming to build a world class applied sciences and engineering campus, called Applied Sciences NYC at Roosevelt Island to be competitive with other tech centers such as Silicon Valley. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Cornell University, and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology announced an historic partnership to build a two-million-square-foot applied science and engineering campus on Roosevelt Island in New York City. (also on NYTimes).

In addition to the Applied Sciences NYC, building on Dumbo’s tech community will attract and retain the creative entrepreneurs that will drive innovation for NYC. Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz said in a statement, “With today’s announcement behind us, let’s now look ahead to the new year and make the case that New York deserves more than one first-rate applied sciences school and that serious consideration be given to New York University’s partnership with Polytech proposed for 370 Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn—home to more college students than Cambridge, Massachusetts—as well as Carnegie Mellon’s plans for the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which along with DUMBO, is part of our borough’s emerging new Silicon Valley. Both locations offer a unique opportunity to create a job-creating epicenter of learning, research and innovation. I normally don’t celebrate Brooklyn being a runner-up in anything, but considering the importance of this center to the future of Brooklyn and New York City, in this case I would happily make an exception.”

Dumbo Improvement District Executive Director Alexandria Sica added, “DUMBO is home to more than one hundred technology firms, digital and creative start-ups that are growing—some at a faster pace than there is talent available. NYU-Poly’s proposal for 370 Jay Street would provide these companies with a highly skilled workforce in their backyard. Furthermore, having an applied sciences school at 370 Jay Street will help DUMBO and the greater Downtown Brooklyn area to continue to grow as a location for tech-based companies that choose to be here around like-minded companies and innovators.”

The Wall Street Journal published an article on Dumbo’s tech yesterday. The article mentions “Tech startups and digital advertising companies have flocked to Dumbo throughout the past decade, drawn to the neighborhood’s industrial lofts that eschew Midtown’s buttoned-down culture. Now Dumbo’s tech scene is about to get bigger.” Polytechnic Institute of New York University will open a new incubator in Dumbo that could house as many as 20 small companies at 20 Jay Street. With innovation fueld by the intersection of creativity, media, and technology in Brooklyn, the community should be looking forward to more private and public partnerships.

From the Brooklyn Borough President’s office:On Tuesday, December 20, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz joined Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group, elected officials and hungry patrons for the ribbon cutting and official grand opening of Brooklyn’s first Shake Shack at 409 Fulton Street in Downtown Brooklyn.

“Foodies rejoice – the wait is over! The Shake Shack to end all Shake Shacks is open in Brooklyn. I have no doubt this will be the most successful outpost yet with the revitalized Fulton Mall, colleges and universities, courts, government offices, the BAM Cultural District, the soon-to-be-completed Barclays Center and new residents in Downtown Brooklyn all lining up for Shake Shack’s delicious burgers and world-famous shakes,” said BP Markowitz. “Danny Meyer has Shake Shack locations across Manhattan and at Citi Field in Queens, as well as Connecticut, Miami, Washington, DC and even the Middle East—but now he’s finally hit the big time in Brooklyn. Kudos to Union Square Hospitality Group for really ‘shaking up’ the Downtown Brooklyn food scene!”